Something to celebrate: A free-speech, pro-life victory in New York City

posted at 3:30 pm on July 15, 2011 by Tina Korbe

Found it — the something hopeful I’ve been scouring news feeds for. A federal judge yesterday temporarily blocked New York City from enforcing a new law that would hinder the effectiveness of crisis pregnancy centers.

Judge William Pauley III called the new law “offensive to free-speech principles” and halted its enactment while a lawsuit filed on behalf of two pregnancy-care centers and a maternity home by the Alliance Defense Fund continues.

The law, titled Bill 371-A, was passed in March and backed by Mayor Michael Bloomberg and City Council speaker Christine Quinn.

The measure obligated pregnancy centers to notify women whether the center offered abortions or had licensed medical providers on staff. It also required the centers to encourage women to consult with alternate medical providers. Failure to comply with the law could result in thousands of dollars in fines, shutdown of the centers or imprisonment.

In contrast, the law did not require abortion or family-planning businesses to make any disclosures about abortion alternatives.

Judge Pauley held that the First Amendment protects both the right to speak and the right to refrain from speech. Proponents of the law made the odd argument that crisis pregnancy centers engage in commercial speech — which is significantly less protected by the First Amendment — because they provide goods (e.g. advice, diapers, etc. which they provide freely!) in exchange for something of economic value (the chance to speak to an audience). Pauley called that argument “particularly offensive” because it made an assembly of people an economic commodity.

Recent statistics show 41 percent of pregnancies in New York City end in abortion. That means 41 percent of pregnancies in New York City could be classified as “unwanted” or “crisis” pregnancies — exactly the sort of pregnancies the pro-life centers targeted by the law aim to address. No laws require pregnant women to seek the comfort and solace of a crisis pregnancy center — but it seems safe to assume those who do don’t go to a care center to hear whether they have the option of abortion.

But if they do, then presumably women also go to abortion centers to hear whether they have the option of adoption. The total lack of reciprocity in the law’s requirements illustrates just how ideologically motivated it was/is. If information dissemination alone were the goal, the requirements would, of course, apply in a two-way direction. That Judge Pauley blocked the law should be an encouragement to anyone who wants women facing a crisis pregnancy to be able to find help, acceptance and hope somewhere other than an abortion center (especially given the sort of “help” abortion centers provide). It should also be an encouragement to anyone who would like to be able to work to help those women without having to speak in favor of a practice they oppose.

Nationwide half of all pregnancies to black woman end in abortion. I am not sure if Margaret Sanger would be proud or upset because it’s not 100%. But blacks are so screwed. They have so many broken homes, exterminating themselves into irrelevance and broken communities with the worst education systems so they don’t know better than to keep electing the worst of the worst to represent them.

This case really gives the lie to the “women’s groups” who say they are just interested in helping women. Why would they feel the need to attack a pregnancy center? Well, if you’re a abortion mongering troll, then it makes perfect sense.

I made basically the same statement years ago in response to a billboard telling me I “should be ashamed to wear fur”. Our driver (who was also our boss), recognizing my sarcasm and displaying his own, asked my if I thought our society had its priorities mixed up. Some people get it (he did). And some people don’t.

Go, stand on the sidewalk. Pray. Others will join you. Pray for the doctors and the staff at Planned Parenthood. Whenever we are in the neighborhood of our local PP, we stop and pray. We pray with whoever is there, mostly Catholic women (we are Christian). There are reports in my area of babies saved by those who stand in front of PP.

If you are going to stand, pray, protest, whatever, near a PP, be sure somebody is filming you from afar. You will eventually get the deranged pro-abortion fanatic who will taunt (and yes even strike at you) if you are there long enough. It’s happened before. Be careful out there. Be smart. Video. It’s your friend.

These so-called “Crisis Pregnancy Centers” were simply being required to acknowledge up front that they don’t offer abortion services. Why? Because they’ve made it a practice of deceiving women seeking abortion services.

These centers are not medical facilities and they are not bound by any kind of privacy requirements. They are propaganda bases dedicated to interfering with a woman’s decision to have a legal medical procedure.

Go, stand on the sidewalk. Pray. Others will join you. Pray for the doctors and the staff at Planned Parenthood. Whenever we are in the neighborhood of our local PP, we stop and pray. We pray with whoever is there, mostly Catholic women (we are Christian). There are reports in my area of babies saved by those who stand in front of PP.